Georg Friedrich Händel
George Frideric (23 February 1685 (O.S.) [(N.S.) 5 March] – 14 April 1759) was a German, later British, Baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi and organ concertos. Handel received important training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712; he became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.
Within fifteen years, Handel had started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. Musicologist Winton Dean writes that his operas show that "Handel was not only a great composer; he was a dramatic genius of the first order." As Alexander's Feast (1736) was well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742) he never composed an Italian opera again. Almost blind, and having lived in England for nearly fifty years, he died in 1759, a respected and rich man. His funeral was given full state honours, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey in London.
Born the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, with works such as Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks remaining steadfastly popular. One of his four coronation anthems, Zadok the Priest (1727), composed for the coronation of George II, has been performed at every subsequent British coronation, traditionally during the sovereign's anointing. Another of his English oratorios, Solomon (1748), has also remained popular, with the Sinfonia that opens act 3 (known more commonly as "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba") featuring at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. Handel composed more than forty opera serias in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and historically informed musical performance, interest in Handel's operas has grown.
Laudate Pueri (Psalm 112)
1. Laudate Pueri 3:39
2. Sit Nomen Domini 2:29
3. A Solis Ortu 1:39
4. Excelsus Super Omnes 2:30
5. Quis Sicut 1:27
6. Suscitans a Terra 3:04
7. Qui Habitare 2:22
8. Gloria Patri 4:03
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Johann Strauss - Love Songs Op. 114
Liebeslieder op. 114 is a waltz by Johann Strauss II written in 1852 (not to be confused with Brahms's similarly titled Liebeslieder Walzer and Neue Liebeslieder). At the time it was conceived, the waltz was titled 'Liebesgedichte' or "Love Poems" and during its first performance, it was even announced as 'Liebesständchen' or "Love Serenade". The first performance was at the famed Vienna Volksgarten on 18 June 1852 under the composer's direction.
'Liebeslieder' stands among the master works of the Strauss Jr., who had, since 1849 an enduringly difficult time convincing the Viennese that his works deserve the attention it sought. The fierce and uncompromising Viennese critic Eduard Hanslick was even captivated by this waltz by writing in the journal "Wiener Zeitung" the following extract "Those bad-tempered old-fashioned people, whose narrow-mindedness goes far as to call today's dance music contemptible should be serenaded with ashaming generosity by the 'Liebeslieder' of the young Johann Strauss."
By essence, the waltz is a love serenade of sorts in 3/4 time. The waltz starts quietly with pizzicato on the strings section of the orchestra before a full-bodied 'forte' signals the beginning of the waltz sections. The first theme is that of a yearning feeling, before accelerating into a strong melody. The mood of the rest of the piece alternates between lushly romantic moods as well as light-heartedness, with the flute gently serenading the waltz sections 4 and 5. The piece ends dramatically, with a sense of anticipation, on a timpani drumroll and brass flourish.
The waltz also features on many arrangements with a string orchestra as well as a quintet of strings. Curiously, many of these arrangements are labelled as 'Music of the Old Vienna' when played with such an arrangement, as it could be possible that Strauss' melodies in this waltz invokes the feeling of the romance of the Old Vienna.
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Johann Strauss - Vienna Blood Op. 354
Wiener Blut ('Viennese Blood', 'Vienna Blood' or 'Viennese Spirit') Op. 354 is a waltz by Johann Strauss II first performed by the composer on 22 April 1873. The new dedication waltz was to celebrate the wedding of the Emperor Franz Joseph I's daughter Archduchess Gisela Louise Maria and Prince Leopold of Bavaria. However, the waltz was also chiefly noted by Strauss' biographers as the début of Strauss with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra where for many years, the Philharmonic had dismissed any association with the 'Waltz King' as it had not wished to be associated with mere 'light' or 'pops' music. The festival ball celebrating the event was held at the Musikverein Hall which is the venue for the present day Neujahrskonzert.
'Wiener Blut' is one of a handful of late works by Strauss that were not composed for the stage; at this point in his career he was concentrating on writing for the performing stage, and not for the ballroom, and had written at least two operettas before penning this waltz, with Die Fledermaus still to come.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Johannes Passion BWV 245
Primeira parte
1. 10:14 Coro: Herr, unser Herrscher, dessen Ruhm in allen Landen herrlich ist!
2. 3:02
2a. Evangelista, Jesus: Jesus ging mit seinen Jüngern über den Bach Kidron
2b. Coro: Jesum von Nazareth
2c. Evangelista, Jesus: Jesus spricht zu ihnen
2d. Coro: Jesum von Nazareth
2e. Evangelista, Jesus: Jesus antwortete: Ich hab's euch gesagt, daß ich's sei
3. 1:09 Coral: O große Lieb, o Lieb ohn alle Maße
4a.1:28 Evangelista, Jesus: Auf daß das Wort erfüllet würde
5. 1:00 Coral: Dein Will gescheh, Herr Gott, zugleich
6. 0:42 Evangelista: Die Schar aber und der Oberhauptmann
7. 6:04 Aria (alto, oboes): Von den Stricken meiner Sünden
8. 0:12 Evangelista: Simon Petrus aber folgete Jesu nach
9. 3:31 Aria (soprano, flautas): Ich folge dir gleichfalls mit freudigen Schritten
10. 3:38 Evangelista, Empregada, Pedro, Jesus e um Servo: Derselbige Jünger war dem Hohenpriester bekannt
11. 2:17 Coral: Wer hat dich so geschlagen
12. 2:18
12a. Evangelista: Und Hannas sandte ihn gebunden zu dem Hohenpriester Kaiphas
12b. Coro: Bist du nicht seiner Jünger einer?
12c. Evangelista, Pedro, Servo: Er leugnete aber
13. 3:13 Aria (tenor): Ach, mein Sinn
14. 1:48Coral: Petrus, der nicht denkt zurück
Segunda parte
15. 1:02 Coral: Christus, der uns selig macht
16. 4:52
16a. Evangelist, Pilate: Da führeten sie Jesum von Kaiphas vor das Richthaus
16b. Coro: Wäre dieser nicht ein Übeltäter, wir hätten dir ihn nicht überantwortet.
16c. Evangelist, Pilate: Da sprach Pilatus zu ihnen
16d. Coro: Wir dürfen niemand töten.
16e. Evangelist, Pilate, Jesus: Auf daß erfüllet würde das Wort Jesu
17. 2:44 Coral: Ach großer König, groß zu allen Zeiten
18. 2:20
18a. Evangelista, Pilatus, Jesus: Da sprach Pilatus zu ihm
18b. Coro: Nicht diesen, sondern Barrabam!
18c. Evangelista, Pilatus, Jesus: Barrabas aber war ein Mörder.
19. 2:28 Arioso (baixo, viola d'amore, lute): Betrachte, meine Seel, mit ängstlichem Vergnügen
20. 8:17 Aria (tenor, viole d'amore): Erwäge, wie sein blutgefärbter Rücken
21. 6:20
21a. Evangelista: Und die Kriegsknechte flochten eine Krone von Dornen
21b. Coro: Sei gegrüßet, lieber Jüdenkönig!
21c. Evangelista, Pilate: Und gaben ihm Backenstreiche.
21d. Coro: Kreuzige, kreuzige!
21e. Evangelista, Pilatus: Pilatus sprach zu ihnen
21f. Coro: Wir haben ein Gesetz, und nach dem Gesetz soll er sterben
21g. Evangelista, Pilatus, Jesus: Da Pilatus das Wort hörete, fürchtet' er sich noch mehr
22. 0:51 Coral: Durch dein Gefängnis, Gottes Sohn muß uns die Freiheit kommen
23. 4:40
23a. Evangelista: Die Jüden aber schrieen
23b. Coro: Lässest du diesen los, so bist du des Kaisers Freund nicht
23c. Evangelista, Pilate: Da Pilatus da Wort hörete, führete er Jesum heraus
23d. Coro: Weg, weg mit dem, kreuzige ihn!
23e. Evangelista, Pilatus: Spricht Pilatus zu ihnen
23f. Coro: Wir haben keinen König denn den Kaiser.
23g. Evangelista: Da überantwortete er ihn daß er gekreuziget würde.
24. 4:15 Aria (baixo) e coro: Eilt, ihr angefochtnen Seelen
25. 2:06
25a. Evangelista: Allda kreuzigten sie ihn
25b. Coro: Schreibe nicht: der Jüden König
25c. Evangelista, Pilate: Pilatus antwortet
26. 1:23 Coral: In meines Herzens Grunde
27. 4:22
27a. Evangelista: Die Kriegsknechte aber, da sie Jesum gekreuziget hatten, nahmen seine Kleider
27b. Coro: Lasset uns den nicht zerteilen, sondern darum losen, wes er sein soll.
27c. Evangelista, Jesus: Auf daß erfüllet würde die Schrift
28. 1:29 Coral: Er nahm alles wohl in acht
29. 1:44 Evangelista, Jesus: Und von Stund an nahm sie der Jünger zu sich.
30. 7:14 Aria (contralto, viola da gamba): Es ist vollbracht!
31. 0:29 Evangelista: Und neiget das Haupt und verschied.
32. 4:39 Aria (baixo e coro]]: Mein teurer Heiland, laß dich fragen
33. 0:39 Evangelista: Und siehe da, der Vorhang im Tempel zeriß in zwei Stück
34. 0:51 Arioso (tenor, flutes, oboes): Mein Herz, in dem die ganze Welt bei Jesu Leiden gleichfalls leidet
35. 6:32 Aria (soprano, flute, oboe da caccia): Zerfließe, mein Herze, in Fluten der Zähren
36. 2:07 Evangelista: Die Jüden aber, dieweil es der Rüsttag war
37. 1:22 Coral: O hilf, Christe, Gottes Sohn
38. 2:18 Evangelista: Darnach bat Pilatum Joseph von Arimathia
39. 8:49 Coro: Ruht wohl, ihr heiligen Gebeine
40. 2:54 Coral: Ach Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"), BWV 80 (also: BWV 80.3), is a chorale cantata for Reformation Day by Johann Sebastian Bach. He reworked it from one of his Weimar cantatas, Alles, was von Gott geboren, BWV 80a (also: BWV 80.1). The first Leipzig version of the church cantata, BWV 80b (also: BWV 80.2), may have been composed as early as 1723, some five months after Bach had moved to Leipzig. Some years later he reworked the cantata one more time, writing an extended chorale fantasia as its opening movement. The text of the BWV 80a version was written by Salomon Franck and contained one stanza of Martin Luther's hymn "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott"; for his chorale cantata versions, BWV 80b and 80, Bach added the complete text of this Lutheran hymn.
Bach scored the cantata for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a Baroque chamber ensemble of up to three oboes of different kinds, strings and continuo. After his death, his son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach arranged the first and fifth movements, adopting a new text and adding trumpets and timpani.
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott was published in 1821, the first of Bach's cantatas published after his death. The Bach Gesellschaft edition appeared half a century later, and included an extended instrumentation by Wilhelm Friedemann.
Kantate BWV 80
1. Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott 5:32
2. Alles, was von Gott geboren 4:10
3. Erwage doch, Kind Gottes 2:18
4. Komm in mein Herzenshaus 3:47
5. Und wenn die Welt volt Teufel war 3:59
6. So stehe denn bei Christi Blutgefarbter Fahne 1:39
7. Wie selig sind doch die 4:15
8. Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn 1:27
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he is generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
The Bach family already counted several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of a city musician in Eisenach. After being orphaned at age 10, he lived for five years with his eldest brother Johann Christoph, after which he continued his musical formation in Lüneburg. From 1703 he was back in Thuringia, working as a musician for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen and, for longer stretches of time, at courts in Weimar, where he expanded his organ repertory, and Köthen, where he was mostly engaged with chamber music. From 1723 he was employed as Thomaskantor (cantor at St. Thomas) in Leipzig. He composed music for the principal Lutheran churches of the city, and for its university's student ensemble Collegium Musicum. From 1726 he published some of his keyboard and organ music. In Leipzig, as had happened during some of his earlier positions, he had difficult relations with his employer, a situation that was little remedied when he was granted the title of court composer by his sovereign, Augustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, in 1736. In the last decades of his life he reworked and extended many of his earlier compositions. He died of complications after eye surgery in 1750 at the age of 65.
Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include hundreds of cantatas, both sacred and secular. He composed Latin church music, Passions, oratorios, and motets. He often adopted Lutheran hymns, not only in his larger vocal works, but for instance also in his four-part chorales and his sacred songs. He wrote extensively for organ and for other keyboard instruments. He composed concertos, for instance for violin and for harpsichord, and suites, as chamber music as well as for orchestra. Many of his works employ the genres of canon and fugue.
Throughout the 18th century Bach was primarily valued as an organist, while his keyboard music, such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, was appreciated for its didactic qualities. The 19th century saw the publication of some major Bach biographies, and by the end of that century all of his known music had been printed. Dissemination of scholarship on the composer continued through periodicals (and later also websites) exclusively devoted to him, and other publications such as the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV, a numbered catalogue of his works) and new critical editions of his compositions. His music was further popularised through a multitude of arrangements, including, for instance, the Air on the G String, and of recordings, such as three different box sets with complete performances of the composer's oeuvre marking the 250th anniversary of his death.
Oboe Concerto
1. Allegro 4:36
2. Larghetto 4:58
3. Allegro ma non tanto 4:44
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Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian Baroque musical composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher, and Roman Catholic priest. Born in Venice, the capital of the Venetian Republic, he is regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other musical instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as the Four Seasons.
Many of his compositions were written for the all-female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children. Vivaldi had worked there as a Catholic priest for 1 1/2 years and was employed there from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with expensive stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for royal support. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and Vivaldi himself died in poverty less than a year later.
Oboe concert in A minor
1. Allegro 3:20
2. Largo 3:16
3. Allegro 3:01
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Giuseppe Verdi
The Quattro pezzi sacri (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkwattro ˈpɛttsi ˈsaːkri], Four Sacred Pieces) are choral works by Giuseppe Verdi. Written separately during the last decades of the composer's life and with different origins and purposes, they were nevertheless published together in 1898 by Casa Ricordi. They are often performed as a cycle, not in chronological sequence of their composition, but in the sequence used in the Ricordi publication:
Ave Maria, a setting of the Latin Ave Maria for four solo voices a cappella composed in 1889
Stabat Mater, a setting of the Latin Stabat Mater for chorus and orchestra composed in 1896 and 1897
Laudi alla Vergine Maria, a setting of a prayer in Canto XXXIII of Dante's Paradiso for four female voices a cappella composed between 1886 and 1888
Te Deum, a setting of the Latin Te Deum for double chorus and orchestra composed in 1895 and 1896.
They were first performed together (without the Ave Maria) in a concert by the Paris Opera on April 7, 1898.
Quattro pezzi sacri
1. I Ave Maria 5:05
2. II Stabat mater 12:28
3. III Laudi alla Vergine Maria 5:43
4. IV Te Deum 15:39
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Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 103 in E♭ major (H. 1/103) is the eleventh of the twelve London symphonies written by Joseph Haydn. This symphony is nicknamed The Drumroll after the long roll on the timpani with which it begins. It is from 1795, and his second-to-last symphony.
The symphony was the eleventh of twelve that were composed for performance in England during Haydn's two journeys there (1791–1792, 1794–1795), arranged and organized by the great impresario, Johann Peter Salomon. Haydn's music was well known in England well before the composer traveled there, and members of the British musical public had long expressed the wish that Haydn would visit. The composer's reception in England was in fact very enthusiastic, and the English visits were one of the most fruitful and happy periods of the composer's life. Haydn composed the "Drumroll" Symphony while living in London during the winter of 1794–1795.
It was premiered on March 2, 1795 as part of a concert series called the "Opera Concerts" at the King's Theatre. The orchestra was unusually large for the time, consisting of about 60 players. The task of directing the work was divided between the concertmaster, the violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti, and Haydn, who sat at a fortepiano. The premiere was evidently a success, and The Morning Chronicle's reviewer wrote:
Another new Overture [i.e., symphony], by the fertile and enchanting Haydn, was performed; which, as usual, had continual strokes of genius, both in air and harmony. The Introduction excited deepest attention, the Allegro charmed, the Andante was encored, the Minuets, especially the trio, were playful and sweet, and the last movement was equal, if not superior to the preceding.
The Sun wrote:
HAYDN's new Overture was much applauded. It is a fine mixture of grandeur and fancy... the second movement was encored.
Symphony No. 103
1. Adagio - Allegro con spirito 9:20
2. Andante piú tosto - Allegretto 10:00
3. Menuet 5:25
4. Finale - Allegro con spirito 5:05
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Anton Bruckner - Motets
Josef Anton Bruckner (4 September 1824 – 11 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic character, and considerable length.[1] Bruckner's compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and roving harmonies.
Unlike other musical radicals such as Richard Wagner and Hugo Wolf, Bruckner showed extreme humility before other musicians, Wagner in particular. This apparent dichotomy between Bruckner the person and Bruckner the composer hampers efforts to describe his life in a way that gives a straightforward context for his music. Hans von Bülow described him as "half genius, half simpleton". Bruckner was critical of his own work and often reworked his compositions. There are several versions of many of his works.
His works, the symphonies in particular, had detractors, most notably the influential Austrian critic Eduard Hanslick, and other supporters of Johannes Brahms who pointed to their large size and use of repetition, as well as to Bruckner's propensity for revising many of his works, often with the assistance of colleagues, and his apparent indecision about which versions he preferred. On the other hand, Bruckner was greatly admired by subsequent composers, including his friend Gustav Mahler.
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